As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday, 19 May 2017

Challenges faced by birds in the Gulf of Mexico

Date:
May 3, 2017

Source:
American Ornithological Society Publications Office

The
Gulf of Mexico is hugely important to birds that migrate between North America
and the Neotropics -- almost all migrants have to go around it or across it.
Coastal habitats around the Gulf of Mexico are critical for these migrating
birds, but these habitats face more and more threats from human activity. A new
Review in The Condor: Ornithological Applications brings together what we know
-- and don't know -- about the state of the region's ecosystems and the birds
that pass through them.

Understanding
the population impacts of events during migration requires knowing which
species are using what coastal habitats, how good those habitats are, where the
birds are coming from, and where they're going. Birds use a variety of coastal
habitats, from vast tracts of hardwood forests to patches of vegetation
embedded in agricultural or urban areas. The amount of food present in these
areas, the intensity of competition for that food, and the danger from
predators all shape how well a certain spot can meet a migrating bird's needs.
Threats to birds passing through the Gulf of Mexico include coastal habitat
loss from forest clearing, wetland filling and dredging, and shoreline
hardening; tall structures like cell phone towers and wind turbines; and, of
course, climate change.

More
data is needed in all of these subjects. Today the Gulf of Mexico Avian
Monitoring Network is taking on the enormous task of coordinating monitoring
across the region by integrating the efforts of multiple organizations and
agencies. Doing this well will require close cooperation between the United
States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries.